BOOK OF HOUSEHOLD PETS. 
CAGE-BIRDS. 
Few things in creation are more beautiful than birds. Elegance of form, 
brilliancy or softness of color, gracefulness of motion—all combine to ren¬ 
der them agreeable objects to the eye; and when to these gifts is added 
melodiousness of voice, no wonder that they should be, as they undoubtedly 
are, favorites with every one who has the slightest appreciation of loveli¬ 
ness in any shape. 
Birds are remarkable for the ingenuity with which they construct their 
nests, and the care and tenderness they show to their young. They 
have memory, knowledge, gratitude, affection, and even imagination, for 
they dream; and it will be our business to show with what facility they 
may be tamed, taught, and trained. 
In a state of nature, birds are free denizens of the air and earth. In 
captivity, they are secured from the vicissitudes of the seasons, and the 
various accidents to which they are subjected by their own species, for the 
rapacious birds feed upon the non-rapacious. If caught when they are old 
